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20 Interesting Pinwheel Galaxy Facts

Pinwheel Galaxy facts article here will give you a glimpse of the most beautiful spiral galaxy you can see in night sky. As we explore through some of the most fascinating Pinwheel Galaxy facts, we will also let you know what you can expect to see with a telescope you own.

So, instead of wasting time any further, let us start exploring some fascinating facts about Pinwheel Galaxy. We are sure, you will love them.

Interesting Pinwheel Galaxy Facts: 1-10

1. The Pinwheel Galaxy was first cataloged by Charles Messier. He was point out objects in sky that were not comets.

2. The Pinwheel Galaxy was the 101th object he cataloged and hence, it is known as M101 (which stands for Messier 101).

4. Sitting at a distance of 21 million light years from Earth, it is sometimes known as, Face-On Spiral Galaxy.

5. This galaxy is massive. It has a diameter of around 170,000 light years across.

6. Pinwheel Galaxy sits in the Ursa Major constellation. Ursa Major is also known by the name Big Dipper.

7. As we said, the galaxy is massive. It is about 70% bigger than our very own Milky Way Galaxy.

8. The light of the Pinwheel Galaxy that you can observe using your telescope travelled for 21 million years. That’s when humans didn’t even exist.

9. Scientists estimate that the galaxy has at least 1 trillion stars in it.

10. If you ask about its mass, the Pinwheel Galaxy’s total mass is equivalent to 100 billion solar masses. That is, if we put together 100 billion suns, the mass we get is the mass the mass of the galaxy.

Founder and Chief Editor of Facts Legend, Sankalan believes that information should be free. He is a dreamer and loves reading, writing, traveling and above all, sleeping. Sometimes he gets really confused about things happening in life but then again, he manages to get things back on track. He practices Tai Chi whenever he gets time. Slightly unsocial by nature, he still manages to get along with people pretty well. He hates politics and absolutely hates people who like to judge others.